Colombia is enduring a brutal armed conflict that is fueled by billions of dollars of U.S. foreign aid. The primary victims are civilians ?- unionists, indigenous leaders, peasants, and human rights workers. Over 4,000 trade unionists alone have died since 1986, and Colombia has become the most dangerous country in the world to be a unionist. The murder, torture and disappearance of labor activists and others do not represent the ?collateral damage? of civilians caught between warring groups. These abuses are a consequence of U.S. policies that train unaccountable security forces at centers like the School of the Americas. They are also a product of coercive free-market policies backed by the United State that drive working class Colombians into poverty and place them on the front lines of resistance to economic globalization.

SOA Watch, Witness for Peace and author Lesley Gill invite you to Colombia to examine the consequences of U.S. policies for working people. We will talk with the combative workers of Coca-Cola and Nestle and meet with various labor unions and human rights groups in Bogot?. We?ll also travel to Barrancabermeja, the center of the Colombian oil industry, where there is a rich tradition of labor and grassroots activism.

On this delegation, you will:

Learn about the social, political and economic roots of the conflict

Listen to first-hand testimony from trade unionists and other Colombians

Understand what role labor unions play in the struggle for human rights

Hear about the consequences for ordinary Colombians of U.S. military training at the SOA

Build solidarity with those seeking justice and peace in Colombia

Gather the tools, stories, and skills necessary to influence U.S. policymakers and the media

Find out more

Cost of delegation: $1300 plus airfare

Delegations can fill quickly. For more information, contact Lesley Gill at
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or Christy Pardew at
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or 202-234-3440.

Witness for Peace is a politically independent, grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. Our mission is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices that contribute to poverty and oppression.

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent.

In the photo at left, taken in Colombia, the graffiti reads, "They will not kill hope."